1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed to blade holding devices and, more particularly, to a toroidal molded plastic blade holder for use with toroidal blades commonly used on defatting and boning knives in the meat packing industry, the molded plastic blade holder including a lower blade-engaging section and an upper gear-engaging section.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The meat packing and processing industry has become increasingly important as the world population continues to grow thereby increasing the need for meat and meat products. As a result of the increased demand for meat, the meat packing industry had to become more efficient in its meat processing and packing operations. Through the use of improved technology and “assembly-line” like operations, the meat industry has been able to increase the production of meat and meat products. However, the industry requires individuals to use some form of knife to remove bones and trim the excess fat from the meat. Accordingly, the meat packing industry has attempted to produce knives that allow the user to debone and trim meat faster, safer, and more economically; a long-felt-need which has yet to be fully addressed.
The prior art discloses knives that typically have a handle, a drive mechanism, and a blade. Although there are numerous types of powered knives which are used, one of the more commonly used types includes a circular blade which rotates at a high rate of speed, the blade being rotatably supported on a handle. These knives are used to remove and trim fat from the carcass by “planing” the knife over the area on the carcass which is being trimmed and the spinning of the blade cuts the tissue being contacted to remove a strip from the carcass. It has been found that these types of blades are very efficient at removing tissue from the carcass, but there are inherent problems with the use of these knives that have not been solved by the prior art.
One of these problems in the meat packing industry is the large amount of vibration and noise emitted by the rotary knives. The nature of the meat packing industry requires the blades to rotate at extremely high-speeds. To achieve the required speeds, knives of the prior art incorporate a drive mechanism consisting of a drive shaft and a gear which are composed of metal. The drive shaft would engage the gear and both the shaft and gear would spin to rotate the blade which is also made of metal along with the blade support ring. As a result, the metal-on-metal contact of the knife components operating at high-speeds would cause a high-pitched noise that could damage the eardrum and impair hearing. Additionally, the lack of a damper in the drive mechanism and high-speed operation causes severe vibration of the knife that could result in loss of control of the knife and injury to the user. While it is possible to reduce vibrations through the use of such a damping device, this does not completely solve the problem. The metal-on-metal contact of the drive mechanism and the knife blade holder continues to be a main cause of vibration, and there is therefore a need for a knife blade holder that will reduces the noise and vibration rendering the rotary knife safer and more comfortable to use.
Construction of a blade holder out of materials other than metal can be risky due to the high speed of rotation of the rotary knife. Unless the structural integrity of the material can be guaranteed, there is the chance that the blade holder will fracture and spin out of the rotary knife, thus causing injury to the user of the knife. Furthermore, the material must be cost-effective to use in the blades or it will not be useful to the industry. There is therefore a need for an improved, safe and cost-effective blade holder that will resolve many of the problems currently encountered in the art.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved molded plastic blade holder for a rotary knife.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved molded plastic blade holder for a rotary knife that is molded directly to the rotary knife blade to provide a safe and efficient cutting blade for the rotary knife.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved molded plastic blade holder for a rotary knife that significantly reduces vibration and noise produced by the knife.
Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved molded plastic blade holder for a rotary knife which is relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture and is safe and efficient in use.